News

It’s tempting to think of social media as a “time waster”—and for many people, it is. However, the sheer amount of time that people “waste” on social media sites is staggering, which is why marketers can’t take it for granted. Regardless of the industry or vertical you’re in, your audience spends a lot of its time on Facebook and Twitter—and as such, you’ve got to invest some time there as well. This is true even for a field as sensitive and as specialized as addiction recovery.

Of course, there are right ways and wrong ways to market your addiction recovery center on social media. You don’t want to be flippant, because addiction is truly a life-of-death matter; at the same time, you don’t want to be morbid or hopeless. The important thing is to build authority and trust, underscore the importance of treatment, and emphasize the benefits of recovery.

That may sound like a tall order—but with the right social media marketing strategy, it’s ultimately attainable.

It All Starts with Content

In developing a social media strategy, the first thing to consider is always going to be content. That’s how online marketing lives and dies, and social media content for an addiction recovery center should fall into one of a couple broad categories:

• Content that educates your potential clients. Explain the services you provide, and show how clinical intervention can ultimately lead to life-long recovery.
• Content that delivers authoritative healthcare messages. This content doesn’t necessarily push your services, but it does convey your expertise, your thought leadership, and your desire to see clients live a healthy and balanced life.

Between these two types of content, you can brand your addiction recovery center as the source for long-term health and wellbeing—and a trusted ally in the fight against addiction.

What About Your Audience?

Of course, as you develop social media content, it’s always wise to have a specific audience in mind. Here, the addiction recovery field can be complicated. You might assume that your content needs to address people battling drug or alcohol addiction—and of course, that’s true to an extent.

Remember, though, that a lot of the people who’ll be making decisions about treatment and recovery aren’t the addicts themselves, but rather friends and loved ones. Make sure your content speaks to them, allaying their fears and putting their doubts to rest.

Is Organic Reach Enough?

The elephant in the room is Facebook Ads, which will allow you to pony up some additional ad dollars in exchange for highly targeted outreach. This is something we recommend precisely because of that targeting, which makes it possible to take your message directly to the people who need to hear it most. Ultimately, a marriage of organic content updates and paid ads is essential.

The Nuts and Bolts

One more thing we’ll note is that, with social media marketing, consistency is key. That’s why it’s important to actually appoint someone in your organization to post content updates according to a regular editorial calendar, as well as interacting with followers and fans. If you don’t make social media the responsibility of a specific team member, well, don’t be surprised if it slips through the cracks.

If you need someone to handle either that nitty-gritty stuff or the big picture, that’s when you call Driven2020. We’d love to work with your addiction recovery center on developing an overarching digital marketing strategy—one that fills beds and boosts your reputation. Start the conversation with us by contacting Driven2020 today.

Reach out to the Driven2020 team today to talk about marketing for your addiction recovery center.